Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Off to the Monotheism Theme Park

Well, it's that time of year again - digging season in Israel. I'm off to work at the site of Tell es-Safi/Gath, which is the Philistine city of Gath, for a month. Not only will it involve incredibly strenuous manual labour in the form of digging up pottery and bones and lugging rocks, causing one to have to eat halva for energy (see the above pic), but there will be some respite in the form of afternoon pottery washing and nightly lectures. Plus, field trips to other sites. Weekends will no doubt be spent recovering, then browsing the antiquities market in Jerusalem, which, from what I can gather is almost entirely looted or fake, bustling amongst the monotheistic religious sites, visiting other ancient (monotheistic and pre-monotheistic) sites in regional Israel, and eating. After the dig I'm spending five more days in Israel, during which I'll hit the museums - particulary the Israel Museum (if the archaeological wing is open) and the Bible Lands Museum, possibly the Eretz Israel Museum, then five days in Jordan. Then back home to icy winter.

3 comments:

Wow, someone (you) has replied already. I am in two minds about the dig, on the one hand its good and entertaining, not to mention educational, and on the other it can tend to be a social overdose because you are amongst so many people for so long. And I'm actually quite shy. It's going to be an endurance test, a physical workout, and my biggerst problem is actually what reading material to bring. I'm definately bringing Ann Killibrew's "Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity", but what else I should bring I'm not sure... Oh, I mean besides "Lonley Planet Israel", "Lonley Planet Jordan", and "The Archaeological Guide to the Holy Land." I'd hate to be suddenly out of reading material... but then again, there might not actually be much time to read...